Jan/100
Hankook Camaro
Campbell, CA - Conrad Grunewald's 2010 Camaro had its first startup today at Blu808, after the crew spent the few months after SEMA buttoning up some loose ends. The triple plate carbon clutch came in from Exedy, and it's amazing. I wouldn't mind having another one just to display. Jeff from Jordan Innovations also came up from Socal to put together a wiring harness and hook up the AiM Sports cluster. Luke and Conrad also built a tubular aluminum crash bar and mounted the massive oil cooler and fans...and then it was ready. Hard to believe, but it's finally running!
Dec/092
Jingle Bell Drift
Willows, CA - The annual December full track competition is traditionally one of the biggest drift days of the year at Thunderhill, and while this one was a little low on attendance compared to previous years, it was still one of the funnest. Because of the rainy and muddy conditions, it could have been likened to a good game of muddy football with your friends.
This event also marked one year since we lost fellow drifter David Kula, who died on his way home from the track. TD organizer Geoff Pitts had a moment of silence for Kula during the Sunday drivers' meeting.
The competition itself followed a radically new format. Instead of single runs on a short section of the course, the drivers took three normal trackday-style 20 minute sessions, with judges Conrad Grunewald, Al Lagura, and Xander Newell, judging different sections each session. They also judged not just the traditional criteria, but also fun things like longest e-brake slide, best tandem train, best understeering, and best 360. There were also some fun prizes this year, like the leather-wrapped flame pattern toilet seat, toy race cars, money from Lagura and Jay Pizarro, half off coupons to local shops like Stealth-Custom-Fab and Limitless Motorsports, the custom ThunderDrift skateboard, and tees from ThunderDrift and Lab17.
And as always, here are the pictures:
Dec/090
25 Hours of Thunderhill
Willows, CA - I picked up former WORKS employee Joey in San Francisco and we headed over to Bob's Donuts for breakfast and a quick chat with Don before embarking on our long and arduous adventure. The paddock at Thunderhill was packed when we got there at 8 am, but there was activity everywhere as the teams hurried to get ready in the dim morning light. Geoff showed up a bit later and he was really excited to start using his new camera that I brought him from the Bay Area. After a quick tutorial we headed up to the water tower to shoot the beginning of the race.
WORKS had their Ralliart competing in its first endurance race, and they quickly found out that the front brakes were inadequate, as the pistons in the calipers melted, but after a quick swap they were back out on the track. Unfortunately the next problem wasn't such an easy fix. Eight hours into the race, the radiator cap failed, leading to massive coolant loss, overheating, and a warped head, thus ending the race for WORKS. Always optimistic, WORKS president Pete Kang is already looking forward to the next endurance race.
But enough of that! Here are the pics:
Nov/090
Mustache Style 2009
Willows, CA - ThunderDrift held its third full track drift event of 2009 today, this time with a mustache theme, and promoter Geoff Pitts was giving discounts to anyone with a mustache - real or fake. Drivers from as far away as the Portland area showed up, as well as all the usuals like Tomasz Olech, Luke Lonberger, and Calvin Wan, to make this one of the best ThunderDrift full track drifts to date.
